On Giving.

Yesterday morning was my oldest son's 16th birthday.

I woke up excited at the idea of celebrating this special day in the way that he had asked: I was taking him and his friend skydiving.

I knew that from the moment I opened my eyes until the moment we were all in car, ready to go, a lot had to happen: the dog wanted breakfast, so did all the kids. Chris and I wanted "green smoothies" - and he wanted his without bananas. Sandwiches needed to be made and packed, the birthday cake needed to find its way into the back of the car. Emmett needed a ride from the ferry. There was some tie dye stuff left over from last night to clean up and I had a few emails to answer.

As I went from one thing to the next, I had my eye on the clock, knowing that we had to leave by 10. At 9:30, all the stuff was done and it was now time to get ME ready.

As I closed the bathroom door, after announcing that I was "just going to jump in and have a quick shower," I realized that I did not want  a quick shower. Actually, I wanted a nice, long and fragrant one. I wanted to take my time and take care of me, for the next little while.

So I did.

Instead of a 5 minute shower, I spent 20 minutes in the bathroom. I savored the solitude, I savored the whole process. I made a conscious choice not to rush and to give to ME.

And while we did leave 10 minutes later than we would have had if I had "just jumped in real quick," those 10 extra minutes made me feel so taken care of, so "well" that as I emerged, I was fully ready to give.

Give my time, my attention, my love - and be "well" enough to watch my kid jump out of an airplane and hoot as he opened his big green parachute.

Well worth it.